You know that child who constantly asked “Why?” after any response given to them until an inevitable sigh was heard and it was obvious the parents or first-grade teacher had had enough? Well, I was that child. I have always been a curious person, eager to learn and gain information about anything and everything that is unknown to me. That’s why I am so drawn to a particular piece of content being created and shared by many: the infographic.

Infographics 101

Infographics are self-explanatory—visual graphics that provide information or data in a clear and understandable manner. Typically, they are visually appealing with unique design layouts that allow the eyes and mind to easily take in the content. And audiences love them! According to Stew Langille, the CEO of data visualization start-up Visual.ly, the average pageview for a newspaper infographic is about 30 times that of a text-based article.

Infographics are beneficial for lots of reasons, especially because they're:

User Friendly: Combining a visual element to text allows the audience to easily comprehend important or complex statistics and information.

Topical: Infographics aren’t just for the tech-savvy or business-minded people. This means there isn’t one particular niche an infographic has to fall in to. Any industry, from sports and entertainment to non-profits and manufacturers, can benefit from producing an infographic.

Shareable: We’ve said it before: Infographics just look cool. That, in addition to actually providing useful and interesting information, makes them that much more likely to be shared via blogs and social networks.

Improving SEO: The more people who share your infographics and provide backlinks to your website, the better search results you will garner.

Building Brand Awareness: Simply adding your brand’s logo and URL to an infographic you create allows people to easily know the source. It’s another positive way to get your brand out there.

Create with Purpose

Now that you know all about the benefits of using infographics, you’re ready to start creating one, right? Hold that thought. You never want to be guilty of making the worst content marketing mistake there is, so before you begin, I caution you to consider your audience. This should always be your first step before creating any piece of content. The better your audience is defined, the easier it will be to choose pertinent information and make a connection through your infographic.

Next it is time to think about your actual information. Ask yourself, "Am I making this data more interesting by creating an inforgraphic?" If your answer is no, don't just make one to join the trend. Make sure your information is relevant and important with an original angle; don't just make more noise on the Internet.

After the design is complete, it’s time to lay out clear objectives for distributing your infographic. Are you trying to share industry ideas and concepts, or are you trying to drive traffic to related pages on your website? Establishing clear goals will help you develop a strategy to market this individual piece of content and include it within your overall marketing plan. As you continue to create your infographics, you will be able to position yourself as an expert on a particular subject.

How do you plan to use infographics in your marketing plan?

After graduating from Miami University with a degree in Journalism and English, Justine immediately immersed herself into the marketing world. At Kuno, Justine assists in the execution of social media campaigns, media planning, and project execution. You can connect with her on Twitter.